Nova Scotia Power is bringing the power lines that march through the woods out to the road.
The lines will be easier to repair if they go down in a storm. And some waterfront properties will no longer have lines spoiling their view.
So we’re getting new power poles.
Poles made from a variety of wood species are used. Some come from quite a distance. Near the water they put cedar from the west coast. Further inland they use creosote-treated pine from down the Eastern Seaboard where pine grows taller, straighter and faster. They also use Douglas Fir. Apparently the Nova Scotian pine that was once prized for masts of sailing ships by the Royal Navy is no longer good enough.
Something else to add to our carbon footprint.
“Why can’t they just bury the power lines?” you might ask. The answer, as for many questions about rural Nova Scotia, lies in the low population density. It just costs too much for the number of people who live here. So lines criss-crossing the road are just a fact of life in rural areas. We might as well embrace them, even photographically, like the fog!
The same factors that make Nova Scotia a wonderful place to live also determine its limitations. C’est la vie.